This invention relates to equipment for the mixing of fluids. The invention is particularly useful in, for example, mixing of stratified fluids and keeping in uniform suspension solid-fluid suspensions or solid-liquid slurries.
In the prior art, numerous devices using the oscillating motion of a perforated plate or a diaphragm or a piston have been used to either mix fluids or to pump a fluid in a specific direction. Furthermore, an extremely large number of rotating or oscillating blade systems have been developed for mixing purposes. Also, devices employing ultrasonic or high frequency oscillations have been used to create localized mixing. A problem with most of these devices, however, is that they dissipate a large part of the input energy in heat created from localized turbulence.
In contrast, the present invention is relatively much more energy efficient while moving and mixing relatively large volumes of fluid, and is relatively insensitive to the fluid viscosity compared with most other devices.